Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication in hospitalized patients and is known to adversely impact short-term and long-term outcomes. The aim of the K24 grant is to provide support for Dr. Parikh's patient oriented research (POR) program and his mentoring activities for trainees interested in these research areas. Dr. Parikh is currently supported by federal grants as Principal Investigator for his research on the discovery and the validation of biomarkers in various settings of AKI. Dr. Parikh has also created the Translational Research Investigating Biomarker End-points (TRIBE) consortium for discovery and validation of biomarkers. These funded studies, as well as a wide variety of other multicenter collaborations through the TRIBE consortium, provide opportunities for training and independent research for Dr Parikh's trainees. Since the year 2000, Dr. Parikh has mentored over 20 residents or research fellows, and been senior author on over 40 peer-reviewed articles [with his mentee as the first author]. Three of his previous mentees are currently patient-oriented researchers and hold faculty positions at academic institutions. His mentees would be supported by a T32 National Research Service Award to the Section of Nephrology and other fellowship grants. As a part of the mentoring program, all trainees will complete 1) didactic training - course work in clinical research methodology; 2) a research project - a hypothesis-based project supervised by a Dr. Parikh and a multi-disciplinary faculty member; and 3) training in written and oral presentation by writing grants and presenting in conferences. All mentees will also be required to participate in a structured curriculum of ethics in clinical research. This K24 application also includes a new proposal for the discovery of biomarkers of recovery from AKI, using three different AKI cohorts and three complementary proteomic techniques. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) is a public health problem and its incidence is rising with profound implications in terms of morbidity, mortality and resource utilization. Identifying biomarkers of injury and recovery of AKI will assist in the management of the disease, as well as its associated complications. Training future investigators in patient-oriented research is essential to reducing the burden of AKI in the future.